I am becoming the owner of a mini horse. It is a long story, but he's basically a rescue as the neighbors no longer want him and asked us to take him. He's been languishing in their pasture for awhile, but he is supposedly broke to ride (going to have to do some ground work with him, get his SUPER LONG hooves trimmed, and then test it out myself, or at least put a saddle on him, and see what he does). I own an Appendix and a Welsh/Arab, but I've never owned a mini. Is there anything about a mini I should be aware of? I am getting him a grazing muzzle asap because he's FAT, and I will keep him in the drylot in the AM with my metabolic mare. I do go on trail rides with my mare. Can I pony him along for exercise? Can you trail ride a mini? My daughter is only 40 lbs and rides (provided he's really broke to ride). Could she ride him on a trail or is that too much (he is 39 inches)? What vitamins do you feed, and how much do you give - I don't want to over suppliment him. I am assuming he will need all the equine vaccines and just worm him like a regular horse, right? He's so small! He cannot even look out of the stall window at night. Will that stress him out? Thanks in advance for all the advice!!!

I have a mini and she is also really fat and she fondered because she would eat so much so getting a grazing mussel would be a must if you want to ride him because minis can get fat and fondered quickly and he might already be fondered because You said that he had ling hooves so i would highly consider getting a mussel .Hope i helped!

Hi
Although at 39 inches he's not technically a mini being over 36 inches they shouldnt really be ridden - their backs arent strong enough. I havent measured my mini but she is definitely on the taller side and possibly doesnt class as one, I have lead a friends 2 year old around on her but thats it - I wouldnt put a larger child on her.
You could definitely lead him from your horse for exercise though providing your mare is ok with it and wont kick out at him. I have been getting my mini used to it within the paddock so that if need be I can drop the lead rope - she tends to suddenly stop and wont budge or will trot up past us and things can get tangled quickly! It definitely requires a little more practise as opposed to leading a regular horse given the height difference. I would be wary of putting the two in together until you can be sure there will be no kicking matches - a mini can get hurt easily by a larger horse. A friend grazed her mini with her other horse for years with no problems and then came home one day to a mini with a dislocated jaw
For worming I get 3 doses out of a tube that would do my horse once - a full syringe would be way too much for her. I dont give her any minerals, just a salt lick.
Once we get into winter she will be stalled at night, she wont be able to see out but there is a window between the stalls so my gelding will be able to look over. If its just at night I dont think not being able to see out would stress him too much as long as he has company next door. If it does seem to be stressful then you could always look at cutting out a little window which I will do if necessary.
Good luck and please post some pics when you get him!

Hi
Although at 39 inches he's not technically a mini being over 36 inches they shouldnt really be ridden - their backs arent strong enough. I havent measured my mini but she is definitely on the taller side and possibly doesnt class as one, I have lead a friends 2 year old around on her but thats it - I wouldnt put a larger child on her.
You could definitely lead him from your horse for exercise though providing your mare is ok with it and wont kick out at him. I have been getting my mini used to it within the paddock so that if need be I can drop the lead rope - she tends to suddenly stop and wont budge or will trot up past us and things can get tangled quickly! It definitely requires a little more practise as opposed to leading a regular horse given the height difference. I would be wary of putting the two in together until you can be sure there will be no kicking matches - a mini can get hurt easily by a larger horse. A friend grazed her mini with her other horse for years with no problems and then came home one day to a mini with a dislocated jaw
For worming I get 3 doses out of a tube that would do my horse once - a full syringe would be way too much for her. I dont give her any minerals, just a salt lick.
Once we get into winter she will be stalled at night, she wont be able to see out but there is a window between the stalls so my gelding will be able to look over. If its just at night I dont think not being able to see out would stress him too much as long as he has company next door. If it does seem to be stressful then you could always look at cutting out a little window which I will do if necessary.
Good luck and please post some pics when you get him!

Thank you for your reply. I will be sure to monitor them. My mare is very low on the horse herd scale, and she gets drylotted a lot because she is metabolic, and she just paces around because the gelding is in the pasture. I think it will be less stressful for her to have company, and the mini is pretty fat, so he will need to be drylotted, too. I am hoping they will bond, but I will keep watch. He would only be stalled at nighttime and during storms, but my big gelding can look over at him, so he will at least see another horse. I am training my mare for endurance, so I will probably just jog the mini on my own ... she will most likely go too fast for him. We have a round pen area in the big pasture that has grass in it, so I can put him in there with a grazing muzzle to be 'near' my big gelding but be safe. I would be devastated if he got hurt, and our gelding is HUGE.

It is good to know about riding. They say they rode him but now I wonder about his health from that. I don't think my kids will mind if they cannot ride him. He is white and my daughter will want to brush him and do his forelock like a unicorn horn. I don't think anyone's paid any attention to him in a long time. She will most likely just be his friend (she is emotinally disabled so I think he could be good for her after lots of groundwork).

I give my mare Microphase and Quiessence for IR. I suppose I could put him on that, too, at a smaller dose. I don't think he's been wormed in awhile so I think I will use Equibits to worm him first, I can get 2 doses from the bag and he will probably enjoy eating pellets. I have heard you can teach minis to drive and maybe if I ever had the time I could try that.

Congrats on your mini, and yes some can be complicated, feeding issues arise. They founder , colic easily, would not pasture grass at all, sugar content to high, just plain bermuda, and a good multi vitamin, and mineral block.
Do not use Moxidectin (wormer) on miniatures they dont tolerate well.
There is a bunch of information in my website .
For safety sake I never house my minis, with my big ones, alot can go wrong just at play, some people do and have no problems, its just each own's situation. I breed and cannot afford injury to any of my miniatures.

Cant wait to see pictures, :) Minis are addicting, you cant just have one..:)

My gelding was very much at the 'bottom' of the herd in his previous home and was always picked on. I was also told that he had been grazed with pigs, goats etc in the past with no trouble. But once I let them in together he started chasing her off and then began doing double barrelled kicks at her, I think he enjoyed being able to be the boss for once! I separated them straight away and now sure there is always electric tape between them.
As Ponderosa said even playing could easily injure a mini, your mare might not mean to hurt him but its still a risk.
I'm sure he will love all of the attention from your daughter though especially if he has been a bit neglected in the past.
I dont have a dry lot and rotate her around with my gelding so I just mow the grass right down before shifting her and try to lunge her at least a few times per week. Grazing muzzles are also great to give them time in larger areas to stretch the legs.
My mini came with a saddle and bridle which I took but wont ever use, especially the bridle! Apparantly they used to let their 8 year old son ride her but he stopped when she bucked him off. He would have been way too heavy for her.
And they are definitely addictive - I would love to get another but we just dont have the space!

My granddaughter got her mini for her 4th birthday. Love at first sight. And she does ride him, it's been perfectly fine. Now that she's 6, she's going to show him one more summer (very minimally) and hand him down to her little cousin.

They do keep him in a very minimalistic grassy area, he tends to gain weight very quickly.

If you can't be brave, then be determined, and you'll end up at the same place.

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